Volleyball in Turkey was born following World War I when the American Dr. Deaver brought the sport to the country. However it was only in the 1960s when they started to participate globally, playing in their first tournament in 1963.

The Turkish women’s team has been growing gradually, finishing second at the 1997 and 2001 Mediterranean Games, in Italy and Tunisia respectively. Their progress continued until they finally won gold at the 2005 Almeira Mediterranean Games.

However Turkey’s biggest success came in 2003 where they picked up silver in the European Championships, also finishing seventh at the World Cup in the same year. In 2006 they went on to finish 10th in an incredible performance at the FIVB Women’s World Championship before finishing seventh at the 2008 World Grand Prix. Then in 2010 they picked up another continental medal, this time in the European League where they came third and won bronze.

Turkish women’s Volleyball now commands respect around the world and their priority is to improve enough to qualify for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Mehmet Bedestenlioglu has only recently been named the new coach of Turkey, taking over in August. The 51-year-old played as a spiker at Samsun DSI and Ankara DSI in Turkey before moving onto coaching in 1982. Since 2007, Mehmet has been the assistant coach of many women’s national teams and has finally stepped up to lead Turkey in Japan.